On to the next one: Song epitomizes Curve's mentality

September 16, 2010

There is a song, however, that perfectly defines the mentality of this year's Curve players, the approach of the club and the attitude they share day in and day out.

"It's just on to the next one, really," shortstop Jordy Mercer said.

That's how the players on the team have viewed the entire season. One day at a time. Forget about what happened yesterday. Focus on today.

Sure enough, there's a song suited for that, and the Curve play it - very loudly - in the clubhouse after every win.

It's called "On To the Next One" by Jay-Z, and it's a catchy tune that has been played 86 times by the Curve this year (82 in regular season, four in playoffs).

"Win or lose, we move on and we worry about the next day," Mercer said.

That type of approach is what separates bad teams from good ones and good teams from great ones.

"It's been kind of a resilient bunch all year long," manager Matt Walbeck said of his team after Wednesday's 6-4 win over Trenton evened up the ELCS at one game apiece. "They've been able to really not let anything affect them."

Second baseman Chase d'Arnaud first heard the "On To the Next One" song last year when he was at Single-A Lynchburg.

"Josh Harrison, Matt Hague and I were listening to it on the computer," d'Arnaud said. "That song came out, and all of us were just loving it. The three of us were like, that would be an awesome walk-out [song]. So I just came up with the idea to use it for my walk-out last year during playoffs."

Lynchburg won the Carolina League title, and many of those players are on this year's Curve team.

When Walbeck heard the song before the season, he came up with an idea.

"He was like, that's a great winning song, so we just decided to keep playing it over and over whenever we win," d'Arnaud said.

The players all expected to have a good season, but even they probably couldn't have expected to be this good. Certainly having talent is the biggest reason, but the "on to the next one" attitude is what separates this club from any other in Curve history.

"You can't dwell or think about things that happen yesterday," d'Arnaud said. "It's just on to the next one."